J&K's Auqib Nabi Earns Maiden Test Call-Up, Makes History for Baramulla

'Nabi's hard work has yielded the fruit he deserves': J&K cricket fraternity hails pacer's maiden Test call-up

New Delhi, Aug 3

Dubbed as the 'Baramulla Express', Nabi got his maiden Test team call-up as a replacement for pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has been sidelined due to left knee discomfort after picking up the injury in an ODI against England in Cardiff last month.

The blow to Bumrah comes at a crucial juncture for India, whose World Test Championship (WTC) final qualification hopes hang in balance - the Shubman Gill-led team are currently occupying fifth place on the points table. For now, Nabi getting the Test team call-up marks the end of an agonising wait.

Despite dominating the domestic circuit over the past two seasons by picking an astonishing 104 wickets, including a 60-wicket campaign that propelled Jammu & Kashmir to a historic maiden Ranji Trophy title earlier this year, the right-arm pacer, also a useful lower-order batter, was continuously passed over.

His exclusion from India's squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh triggered widespread outrage, as cricket-loving netizens were majorly critical of the selectors for overlooking the domestic season's top wicket-taker. But Nabi, whose recent First-Class outing in Galle for India A saw him pick six scalps was still on top of the selectors' minds when an opening emerged.

Nabi's selection makes him the first player from Jammu & Kashmir to be selected in the Indian Test team. In all, he's the third player from the state to be in the national set-up after Parvez Rasool and Umran Malik played white-ball games for India. The news of Nabi earning a Test squad inclusion has sparked jubilation in Jammu & Kashmir.

Sunil Kumar, the left-arm pacer and Nabi's new-ball partner in domestic cricket, was all smiles on hearing the news of his partner's call-up via a WhatsApp group. "I am very happy for him because he is a person who's very down-to-earth. He is a very hardworking person.

"Today, his hard work has yielded the fruit he truly deserves. I talked to him when he was with India 'A' team in Sri Lanka. It was a normal conversation and right now, only congratulations and stuff like that has happened," he said to IANS on Monday.

Sunil also sees Nabi's elevation to the Test team as a watershed moment for cricketers growing up in Jammu & Kashmir and aspiring to play for the country. "This is the first time that a guy from the state has gone to the Test Team. With the way our team was playing, especially in the past 2 years, we used to talk about who will break the barrier of getting into the national Test team and the person whose name always came first in this regard was of Auqib bhai.

"Now, we all can see that he has achieved it. So, everyone here will get a boost as now that door is open, which was closed for a long time. More players and more talent can come out of J&K and they can achieve their ultimate goal."

While transitioning to the highest level brings intense scrutiny, Sunil remains confident that Nabi's temperament will be his greatest asset whenever he gets to make a potential Test debut in Sri Lanka.

"Auqib bhai will do well. There is no doubt about it because he is mentally tough. He knows that no matter what the conditions are, no matter how difficult a situation it is, he doesn't care. He knows that he has to come and bowl well in his areas to get the batters dismissed. I mean, he has the gumption and ability, as well as the awareness, to know that he can perform well at the Test level. Mentally, he is very tough."

For Muzaffar Mattoo, a BCCI-qualified coach who was the head coach of the under-16 team winning the Vijay Merchant Trophy Plate Group in 2025/26 season, seeing Nabi rise from a local club cricketer in Baramulla to the Indian Test team is the ultimate reward of years of hard work.

"It's a great moment for all of us and for the whole of Jammu & Kashmir. So we are delighted enough that Auqib has got a call-up for Team India and we hope that he will deliver the same form which he has already delivered in the Ranji Trophy. It's never late to get a call-up and we hope that he carries the same form there in Sri Lanka. The selectors felt that this is the right time for him. So we are all excited, we are all delighted and we hope all the best happens with Auqib," he told IANS.

Recalling the early days when he first spotted a young Nabi and got him to play for Baramulla Cricket Club, Mattoo remembered recognising an innate spark that set him apart long before he made headlines on the domestic circuit. "It was way back in 2010 when I picked him up, as that was the time he would play in his backyard. He used to play in my club. Then I used to coach him also during under-19 and under-23 days

"We went there to his backyard, saw him and picked him there only and got him in our club. From there, he got a break, and much-needed exposure. He played club cricket and later represented the state. He had that flair from the very beginning. I talked to him yesterday.

"I said, 'Fingers crossed. Let's hope that you will get a call-up from Team India,' and he's got it now. After the Vijay Merchant Trophy win, we got the Ranji Trophy triumph and now Auqib earned selection in the Indian Test team. So, cricket fortunes are rolling well in Jammu and Kashmir."

While reaching the Test team is a milestone, breaking into the playing eleven remains a competitive hurdle. With fellow pacer Gurnoor Brar also in the squad alongside Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna and Sri Lanka's subcontinental tracks favouring spin, India are expected to field just two primary seamers.

In Bumrah's absence, India will have to activate Plan B in terms of their ideal fast-bowling composition. However, with his familiar experience on Galle's pitches during the recent A-tour and momentum fully on his side, Nabi stands ready to take the field should the opportunity present itself.

As Nabi prepares to leave for Sri Lanka with the Indian team on Tuesday, Sunil's parting advice is simple: trust the process that propelled him to be in the Test set-up. "I would like to tell him to do what he has been doing. It's easy - he has to do what he has been doing. Nothing new has to be done, and we know that he will do it," he concluded.

— IANS